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Show BE CAREFUL OF YOUR CRITICISM It is not an uncommon thing to hear small groups, when discussing the war, drift to the rationing program pro-gram and each one of that group has his own ideas about it. If careful analysis is applied to the assertions asser-tions made one will discover that his ideas are based upon his own personal desires. If the rationing program pro-gram hinders him to a very small degree he is very loud in his condemnation of the program. We maintain that due to our inability to visualize the entire situation we really are not in a position to criticize. Our viewpoint is small compared to that of those officials who have the program under their responsibility. res-ponsibility. Just to illustrate ask yourself how many times you have criticized or have heard others object to the gasoline rationing program. Assertions are frequently made that there is plenty of gasoline and it is rediculous to curtail the use of it. To such persons we quote President Roosevelt: "It is interesting for us to realie that every Flying Fortress that bombed harbor har-bor installations at Naples from its base in North Africa Af-rica required 1110 gallons for each single mission and that this is the equal' of about 375 "A" ration tickets-enough tickets-enough gas to drive your car five times across the continent. con-tinent. You will better understand your part in the war and what gasoline ration means if you multiply multi-ply this by the gasoline needs of thousands of planes and hundreds of thousands of jeeps, trucks and tanks now serving overseas. I think that the personal convenience con-venience of the individual or the individual family back here in the United States will appear somewhat less mportant when I tell you that the initial assault force on Sicily involved 3000 ships, which carried 160,000 men Americans, - British, Canadians and French together with. 14,000 vehicles, 600 tanks and . 1800 guns. This initial force was followed every clay and every night by thousands of reinforcements." Let us back home dig into our task and let the men at the top determine the needs of the armed forces and thereupon set the standards of home consumption. Let us then be as economically as we possibly can in the use of the things we are entitled to. |